Archive for the ‘bus’ Category

In April 2013 Martz Trailways began Curbside Express Bus Service to New York City. The fare for this bus service is $25 round-trip, which is a significant discount off of the normal round-trip price. Martz offers this service from both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, though, at least for now, the buses only run on certain days of the week. The separate buses from Scranton and Wilkes-Barre each make several stops within their respective departure cities, beginning at 7:00 AM.

The benefits of this new service are:

$25 round-trip fare (very cheap!)

Express to NYC – no stops after Scranton or Wilkes-Barre

This new bus service is similar to the “Chinatown” bus service model that is prevalent in Manhattan. Buses pick-up and drop-off at the curb, instead of at a formal bus terminal, thereby saving money from the fees normally paid to the owner of the bus terminal. Normal midtown-New York bound Martz buses call at the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 40th Street and Eighth Avenue. But the new Martz Curbside Express Buses will both drop-off and pick-up in the vicinity of 48th Street and 6th Avenue. That location is convenient to Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, and many subway lines.

NOTE: You MUST return on the same day, on the exact bus specified, to use the second half of your $25 round-trip ticket. The current schedule has the same-day return buses departing 48th Street and 6th Avenue at 7:00 PM.

For all the details on the new Martz Trailways Curbside Express Bus Service to New York City and to purchase e-tickets, please click on the following link:

I was hoping that that one of the discount bus services, such as Megabus or Bolt Bus, would begin service to Scranton. That hasn’t happened yet, but this new Martz Trailways Curbside Express Bus Service is pretty much the next best thing and I applaud Martz Trailways for offering it.

Monday afternoon there was an accident involving a New York City Transit bus on the Bx10 route and a car. The car fared much worse than the bus it seems. The driver of the car had to be cut out with the Jaws of Life. This section of Johnson Avenue was closed for a while and all buses and cars coming down Kappock Street had to be diverted to Palisade Avenue. And all through this there was no mention of the service change on mta.info.

My wife happened upon the accident scene and took the following cell phone photos.

I came across this shuttle bus earlier today. As is not uncommon, it was part of a shuttle bus route connecting Penn Station with the Javits Center. However what was surprising was that this bus was displaying a NYC parking ticket on its windshield!

I don’t like when people park illegally, but come on, ticketing this operation is only going to hurt NYC in the long run. I don’t know where the bus was when it got the ticket, or anything at all about the incident, but it just seems ridiculous. And the fact that the ticket is still sitting there behind the windshield wiper while the driver is present inside the bus means that the driver is probably trying to avoid getting any more tickets by showing that he already has one! That’s a common tactic by delivery truck drivers.

Whereas in previous years I believe the Route 351 Meadowlands Express Bus Service was half run by NJ Transit and half contracted out, this year it will be completely run by CoachUSA. The 351 bus takes you from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan to the Meadowlands Sports Complex for major events. It’s $5 each way, exact change required.

And many people love to take this bus to Giants and Jets NFL football games. Sure, some people have defected to the train, but the 351 has its true believers.

Oren Hirsch created an amazing Jerusalem Bus Map using Google Maps. Check out the Jerusalem Bus Map and/or read all about it in this Jerusalem Postarticle!

When Oren Hirsch arrived in Israel last summer, he thought he would be spending a year working with the post-college World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) program, not tackling the capital’s entire transportation system.

And while Hirsch, a 23-year-old with a degree in urban planning from Cornell University, has been actively engaged in WUJS activities since his arrival, it has been an extracurricular activity – creating and posting a comprehensive Jerusalem city bus map online – that has earned him his accolades thus far.

…

But the key addition to the site came with Hirsch’s arrival in the capital in July and a subsequent recommendation from a friend that he try to create a map of the confusing web of Jerusalem’s myriad bus routes – a step that hasn’t been taken by Egged for over 10 years and one that is sorely needed in a city of more than 760,000 people.

M42 crosstown bus customers will be able to take a ride back in time when MTA New York City Transit places into service a fleet of vintage New York City Transit buses for the holiday season. Everything but the MetroCard fare boxes will be original.

The crosstown buses will be in operation from Monday, November 23 through the end of the holiday season, running on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. With a little bit of luck and good timing, you could catch a ride back in time on a classic coach for the price of a regular ride. And don’t forget, these 1950s-era buses are equipped with modern fare boxes, so they’ll accept your MetroCard or coins.

“These buses are a living, breathing part of the city’s history,” said Joseph Smith, MTA Bus Company President and Senior Vice President of Buses for MTA NYC Transit. “Riding on these buses is a fantastic counterpoint to the vehicles we operate currently,” noted Joseph Smith. “It’s obvious that we have come a long way since the 1950s and, despite the charm of the older equipment, our customers are benefiting from major advances in bus efficiency, design and accessibility.”

The agency’s historic fleet contains 19 buses, ranging in age from the Queen Anne – a 1917 wood-bodied double-decker manufactured in the shops of the old Fifth Avenue Coach Company – to bus number 1201, NYC Transit’s first General Motors RTS.

Many of the vehicles have been deemed to have historical significance to the city, including bus number 3100, a 1956 GM which was the first air-conditioned transit bus manufactured, and 5227, the last non-wheelchair accessible bus to operate for NYC Transit, pulled from service in 1993.

One of the vintage buses that will be in service along the M42 this holiday season

MTA New York City Transit is once again running select buses from their museum fleet in revenue service for the holiday shopping season. They did it last year, and it was loads of fun.

This year however is even more special – the buses are even older! While last year’s vintage buses were mainly in service in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s before being retired, this year’s buses date from the 1950s! These older buses are commonly referred to as the “old look” buses.

While details of the 2009 Holiday Vintage Bus program have not yet been officially released, it is believed that one or more vintage buses will be running along the M42 bus route in Manhattan (42 St Crosstown) between 10 AM and 2 PM, Monday to Friday, through the end of December.